LODI - Firefighters managed to keep a second-floor apartment fire from spreading to adjoining units Monday morning despite extensive damage to the unit and the attic from the two-alarm blaze.

Upon arrival around 10:30 a.m. at the apartment complex at 400 Chestnut Street - near the busy intersection of West Lodi Avenue and South Hutchins Street - Lodi Fire Battalion Chief George Juelch called the second alarm, bringing in off-duty firefighters and mutual aid engines from the Woodbridge, Stockton and Waterloo-Morada fire departments. A total of 26 fire personnel responded to the scene.

The fire apparently started accidentally while someone in the apartment was cooking with oil that ignited, spreading to the kitchen cabinets and extending into the attic, Juelch said.

"It was pretty intense for a few minutes. Our guys made an aggressive knockdown on it," Juelch said, keeping it confined to the single unit. At least two other units had some water damage. Juelch estimated total damage at $200,000 to $250,000.

The three adult residents of the burned apartment were displaced, as were another five residents from neighboring apartments. The American Red Cross was called in to assist them. Firefighters also discovered a cat that had perished in the fire.